Approaching the source of the Tkwarua River, the traveller enters Kartli, a fertile country overlooked by the Kaukasos Mountains, where Prometheus was bound, capable of affording an exceedingly good livelihood. For the local Mepe Pharnavaz has unitied the land and holds great building plans. Protecting the route to Egrisi is the large stronghold of Shorapani, capable of housing a sizeable population, surrounded by narrow defiles run by rough and violent streams. These aliment the Tkuarua River, which traverse the whole of Kartli joined by several tributaries, watering fertile plains and good pastures. This water course is the trade, transportation and communication artery of Kartli. Accordingly all major foundations are in proximity of the river. To the East is Uplistsikhe, a most ancient settlement. This rock-cut fortress is one of the most important centres and holds an impressive temple excavated into the depths of the earth. Next is Urbnisi a growing trading center, and farther East at the confluence of the Aragui River lays Mtskheta, the capital of the Kartvelebi, where Mepe Pharnavaz built his sumptuous palace. South of the Tkwarua River stands Armaztsikhe, the mountaintop fortress of the god, housing a vaulted temple and a copper statue of Armazi, the royal patron deity of Kartli. Here is also a great hall of six columns with a tiled roof, while below the citadel merchant quarters are located. To the South is the Armenian plateau, which serves as a border with Hayasdan. While farther East is some of the best land in Karli, where cattle thrives in the plains, which keep a grassy appearance throughout the year. While in the highlands are rich hunting grounds. To the North there are difficult ascents and inhabited caves, guarded by strongholds. The mountain passes are at first hewn through rock and then through marshes. However beyond the Kaukasos Mountains are people still allied to Mtskheta, for Pharnavaz married a local princess. These are the Dzurdzuki, fierce warriors living off wild animals, fruits and milk.

Geography

Kartli is essentially a serie of plains, watered by several rivers, enclosed by mountains and deep gorges. These create natural barriers, isolating Kartli during winter and at the same time cutting any contacts between valleys. However this condition makes for a milder winter and cooler summers, shielding the plains from heavy precipitation. Which occurs only at higher altitudes, but unfortunately these, coupled with earthquakes, can cause landslides. The mixed forests of the Kaukasos are characterised by Oriental beech, Oriental oak, Caucasian pine, fir and spurce trees. The mountains are also roamed by East and West Caucasian turs, chamoises, Caucasian red deers, wild goats, mouflons, brown bears, grey wolves, lynxes and the Caucasus leopard. In the province are also found many species of avifauna like the golden eagle, bearded vulture, Caucasian snowcock, Caucasian great rosefinch and G?ldenst?dt's redstart. While closer to water courses live European otters, gadwalls and Caucasian parsley-frogs.

The People, Society and Government

The Kartvelebi were one of the Caucasian ethnicities that came to be from the merging of local communities and intrusive Anatolian and Mesopotamian groups. They worshiped deities of Hittite origins related to fertility and hunting, holding in particular esteem wolves. These were constituted a class of game in itself, forming a society subject to rules and practices, thought akin to that of human beings. This grew into a totemic cult and should a hunter kill any wolf, he would mourn and weep as passionately as if it had been a man. Similarly the Georgian Mountain dogs became just as important, perhaps as wolves joining the Kartvelian tribe, and were employed even in small scale warfare. One such animal was gifted to Alexandros Megas, said to have torn to pieces a lion and relentlessly worn off an elephant to death. Another important cultic figure was Amirani, a demigod who stole the secrets of metallurgy and was chained to a mountain, where an eagle attacked him each day. In his honour the Kartvelebi follow a practice of finding and destroying eagles' nests. However the highest honour belonged to Armazi, a male moon deity, whose sincretism with Ahuramazda formed the basis of Kartvelian kingship. Another deity, Zaden, was also associated to the royalty, being the manifestation of abundant creation. As other Anatolian gods they were warlike figures, for they also held the powers of destruction. Societies stood around the figure of an elder elected by the peasants to serve as head of the village. However in time the free agriculturalists evolved into a distinct aristocratic class. Which became tributary to P?rsa and its members adopted Iranian ideals and practices, employing seals featuring hunting scenes. Coming from such nobles, Pharnavaz successfully united the tribes and assumed the royal title of Mepe. This centralisation of power brought a strict social hierarchy: the Mepe and his kinsmen stood at the top leading the military and governing the rural communities. Followed by the priests who held also judicial powers over controversies between neighbouring communities. Then came the soldiers and farmers, while at the bottom stood the landless farmers. Another important change was the adoption of an official alphabet, until then used by cultic authorities, promoting a common language. Allowing also the creation of the Kvirbebi, records about commercial routes and roads. Thus the Mepe was able to establish a competent administration, regulated by officials influenced by Hellenistic and Iranian models. Thus all the Kartvelian tribes were assimilated into a single powerful state.

The Dzurdzuki were the descendants of displaced groups, who took refuge beyond the Kaukasos Mountains. Although they experienced the Kartvelian gender reversal, their ancestors probably stood on the losing side and fled to their current abode. Indeed priestesses and female soothsayers were extremely prominent, worshiping the mother sun. While the moon held a lesser status. Living in underground dwellings, the Dzurdzuki were very interested in divination, preserving practices going back to Babylonian times. Auspices and augury had both religious and pratical applications, resting on a complex cosmological system. They believed in the existance of a subterranean kingdom to which souls transmigrated upon death, carrying earthly social structures and providing an extension to their existence. These worlds were very much in contact, for when the sun was setting in life, it would be rising in the subterranean world. Thus the diviners were able to hold their ear on the ground and receive divine revelations, which they would deliver to the Dzurdzukian communities in the morning. The women, when pregnant, retired to give birth and kept their daughters to be educated as priestesses, while the sons were brought back and raised comunally. Men and women alike took part in warfare, and the rulers of Karli appreciated the assistance from the Dzurdzuki.

History

Alexandros Megas' victories in Mesopotamia severed any remnant of Persian suzerainty in Kartli. However the expansion of Hayasdan, assisted by Makedonian forces, in the Skydises Mountains put much pressure on Kartvelian tribes. Whose nobles rallied them against foreign officials, attempting to impose direct rule. By the 3rd century BCE a certain Pharnavaz, son of a village elder and a Persian woman, with the assistance of his brother-in-law Kuji I of Egrisi, succeeded in centralising power and backed his royal claim through the Zoroastrian belief of divine favour. He proved to be an excellent statesman and leader, by accepting Seleukid nominal suzerainty he secured most of his borders and introduced monetary transactions in Kartli. Indeed the economy now boomed to such an extent that Seleukos Nikator, before his campaign in Mikra Asia against Lysimachos, was contemplating the excavation of a canal stretching from the Euxeinos Sea to the Kaspion Sea. Pharnavaz I focused his attention on developing Kartvelian infrastructures, while marrying another of his sisters to a Sauromatian chief. Thus securing his position, safeguarding trade and enriching Kartli. Such a status was welcomed by the Hellenistic polities, for it ensured competent protection of the Kaukasian passes from nomadic attacks. While the Seleukidai obtained a valuable ally, to exercise pressure on Hayasdan, making sure the latter would not follow a too indipendent policy. What Pharnavaz I did not manage to establish during his long reign, was the legitimacy and recognition of a dynastic succession. Thus his death after 65 years of rule fired up a revolt against his son and heir Saurmag, who nevertheless crushed it with the help of the Dzurdzuki and Sauromatae. Proving to be as shrewd as his father, Saurmag I pardoned his opponents and made them directly dependent upon his authority. He also settled Dzurdzukian warriors in the highlands of Egrisi. Keeping a dependent stance towards the Arche Seleukeia, the new Mepe honoured his father, establishing a royal cult at the latter's tomb in Armaztsikhe. This was followed in emphasising dynastic succession. Otherwise Saurmag followed the established policy of consolidation and marital alliances by taking as wife an Iranian princess from Aghvank. He also associated An?hit?, the goddess of fertility and water courses, to the cult of Armazi. Likely connected to the Tkwarua River, if not its outright deified form. Saurmag I never had a son, but two daughters. Whom he married to Kuji II of Egrisi and his wife's nephew. Thus the latter, Mirvan, succeeded Saurmag I as his adopted son in the early 2nd century BCE, without any dynastic crisis, for men and women alike were considered Mepe in Kartli. However after 189 BCE Artashes I of Hayasdan defied Seleukid authority and occupied Kartli as far as the Tkwarua River. While the mountain tribes took this as an opportunity to revolt against the Kartvelian Mepe. Nevertheless Mirvan I defeated them and erected fortifications, like Nelkarisi, to block the mountain passes. Although Antiochos IV Epiphanes eventually bested Artashes I, Seleukid power collapsed in the 140s BCE and Mirvan I now looked for protection in Pahlava. Thus Kartli switched allegiances and when Hayasdan became a dependency of Pahlava around 120 BCE, the Mepe married his daughter to one of the now pro-Arshakid sons of Artashes I. This allowed a new economic growth, owing to the Pahlavan trading network, and the Mepe's son Pharnajom I promoted urbanisation toward the end of the 2nd century BCE, attaching quarters to the fortifications of Kartli. He also founded Tsitsamuri North of the Tkwarua River, a mountaintop fortress to Zaden, god of fertility. However Pharnajom I opted for the introduction of Zoroastrian fire worship at the temple of Armazi. This granted him even greater recognition at the Pahlavan court, but it caused an uproar among his nobles, who now saw in the Armenian grandson of Mirvan I their Mepe and urged for the deposition of Pharnajom I. An invasion thus took place and, although supported by Adurbadegan, Pharnajom I was killed in battle and Kartli fell under Armenian jurisdiction. Nevertheless the newborn son of Pharnajom I survived and was brought to the Pahlavan court, while the Armenian prince became Arshak I of Kartli. Who throughout his reign supported his uncle Tigran II of Hayasdan, in the latter's bid for independent rule. Around 67 BCE Arshak I was succeeded by his son Artag I, who was caught in the counterattack by Pahlava and the SPQR against Hayasdan. In 65 BCE Cnaevs Pompeivs Magnvs launching a sudden invasion, ended Artag I's brief reign and installed his son Pharnavaz II as a Roman Cliens. Later in 36 BCE the now mature Mepe joined Aghvank in revolt against Roma, but the Antonian Legatvs Pvblivs Canidivs Crassvs managed to subdue Pharnavaz II into an alliance. However around 30 BCE Pharnajom I's son came back to Kartli with a Pahlavan army, killing Pharnavaz II and becoming Mepe Mirvan II. Instead of opposing him, Avgvstvs recognised Mirvan II as an ally and the latter's successors would become instrumental in the Romano-Pahlavan wars over Hayasdan.

Strategy

With its central location amidst the Kaukasos Mountains, Kartli is the perfect base to control the whole region. Although its capital stands safely between a river and impassable ranges, its ruler should not forsake the southern area. For this brings much agricultural revenue and connects Kartli to major trading routes. Equally valuable are the eastern and western passes, whence the ruler of Kartli should make certain to at least exercise influence. Thankfully the local tribesmen provide excellent warriors, capable of achieving just that goal and push beyond.

They dress in their every day clothes, which consists of a traditional nomad jacket, or Kurta, with a v-shaped cut. The kurtas are made of felt, cloth or leather, depending on the time of year, and the wealth of the wearer. They wear pants of cloth, felt or leather. Unlike the mounted Sakas of the high steppes, these men wear leather boots more suited to the often rough and mountainous terrain of Central Asia. There is a multitude of hat designs known among the Saka, and a selection is seen on these men. Most prominent is the felt pointed hat, worn particularly by the Saka Tigrakhauda, or Pointed-Hat Schythians, as they were known. The hat is held up by leather straps around the wearers head, keeping the soft point upright even in windy or wet conditions. In addition to their Sagaris axes, made of bronze of iron with wooden handles, they carry fire hardened javelins, and an Akinakes dagger, useful for taking the scalp of a fallen enemy. Herodotos describes how Scythian warriors would make a triangular incision into a fallen enemy's head, and then take them by the hair and shake until the scalp came off. They would then clear away any residual flesh with a rib bone, and rub the scalp to soften it. It would then be carried as a trophy on the riders saddle, clothes or weapon. For protection, they carry square reed shields reinforced with leather, which albeit light are very resistant to missiles.